The Swiss Pz 61 Medium Tank

The Swiss Pz 61 Medium Tank

The Swiss Pz 61 Medium Tank Background & Development

The Swiss were using British Centurions after WW2 as they initially lacked the ability to develop their own tanks until the late 50’s when they came up with the Panzer 58, which was armed with a Swiss 90mm main gun. The Pz 58 never entered production but was further developed in to the Pz 61. 150 were manufactured by RUAG Land Systems and entered service with only the Swiss Army in 1965. It was eventually replaced by the Pz 68.

The Swiss Pz 61 Medium Tank Descrition

It had an almost egg shaped cast turret that worked almost like sloped armour with a maximum 120mm thickness and a single cast hull. The main gun was a licence built British rifled L7 105mm. It was also equipped with a coaxial and roof mounted 7.62mm Machine Guns. 150 were manufactured by RUAG Land Systems and entered service with only the Swiss Army in 1965. It was eventually replaced by the Pz 68. It was powered by a German MTU MB-837 V8 diesel engine, which generated 630hp. It had a top road speed of 55km/h and operational range of 300km.